Durran XXX Durrandon
Durran XXX Durrandon is the current ruler of the Kingdom of the Stormlands. He has reigned since 288 AA, upon the death of his father King Harmon IV Durrandon. Early Life It would be in the spring, 272 years after Aegon’s Failed Conquest, that Durran Durrandon would be born to the Storm King Harmon IV and his queen, Tyana Penrose. Like his father his eyes were a piercing sky blue, and his hair black as charcoal. In his formative years Durran would play with the boys around Storm’s End, making fast friends with several. The castle master-at-arms at the time, Ser Brus Buckler, would teach the young boy to swing a sword in the moons before he left for Griffin’s Roost in 278, even at the tender age of six. He took to it magnificently well for such a young child, but Ser Brus had little time to develop his skills beyond proper posture and grip. Squiring at Griffin's Roost The day came in mid 278 that young Durran would be collected by Lord Ronald Connington. Some boys would cry, some would pine for home. Durran watched, unblinking, as Storm’s End vanished into the trees behind the carriage. He would arrive at Griffin’s Roost having spoken at length with several of his father’s men-at-arms sent to escort the carriage. For his first years Ser Richard Connington, Lord Ronald’s brother and the master-at-arms in Griffin’s Roost, made an effort to train Durran with a sword. By 282, the now ten year-old heir to the Stormlands had developed a fearsome temper in the sparring ring, striking and striking again, laughing rather than groaning as his opponents struck true. Ser Richard found himself unnerved by the tendency and reported this to his lord, but Lord Ronald saw no cause for alarm-- the boy was otherwise normal in all respects. One morning in the first moon of 285, fourteen year-old Durran picked up a two-handed war hammer he found on the rack in the training yard. Ser Richard saw that look in his eye-- “that mad grin”, as the master-at-arms called it-- and found Durran to be a natural wielder of the weapon. His swings were brutal, battering shields out of men’s hands and breaking one older wooden shield to splinters. For his part, the boy loved it. Within the year the Prince would learn of his father’s declining health. King Harmon IV had ruled for very long and over a prosperous period of time for the Stormlands, but even so all men must die. This presented Durran with a dilemma: did he rush home to attend to his father, or did he stay in Griffin’s Roost to gain his knighthood? After a lengthy discussion with the septon, Durran decided against returning home. He would return to Storm’s End a knight, or not at all. Fortunately, King Harmon IV’s condition did not erode quite so quickly. Stormlanders were tough men, and the toughest lead them. In 286 Durran took his vows and was anointed in the sept at Griffin’s Roost, rising as Ser Durran. After a celebratory feast, Ser Durran rode home with all haste the following morn. King Durran XXX Durrandon's Reign The First Years Though not bedridden, the ailing Storm King seldom left the keep at Storm’s End. His physical condition had declined to a shocking degree, and he did not wish to be seen in that state. He did, however, emerge into the open air to greet his returning heir. Ser Durran had left a boy of six, and returned a man grown and a knight besides. He stood taller than his father, his shoulders were broader. The men embraced, but the King would only live for another year. It would be in 287 that King Harmon did not awake, his illness at last claiming him. It was a somber day in Storm’s End, but the Kingdom could not go on leaderless. Early the next morning the nobility around the castle gathered in the throne room to witness the coronation, and Ser Durran would be crowned King Durran of the House Durrandon, Thirtieth of His Name. The early moons of King Durran XXX’s rule would be as turbulent as any new King’s. He had to grow used to the entourage of advisors, to meeting with his father’s council. He learned that Kings were lonely people despite it all, and took to riding north to the Stormwood when he had the opportunity. It would be at Bronzegate that he met Ser Alyn Buckler. Ser Alyn and the King became fast friends on their many hunts. Many a boar and deer would meet their end at the tip of the King’s spear under Ser Alyn’s tutelage, and they would often feast at Bronzegate and Storm’s End on the fruits of their hunts. After two years, Ser Alyn swore his sword to the Storm King, and joined him at Storm’s End on a more permanent basis. Three years later, in 290, King Durran XXX had grown into his throne. He had never been cowed by it in the beginning, but it did have an intimidating effect-- no longer. His authority became unquestioned, and he had replaced many of his father’s councilors with his own. When word arrived that the Ironborn had pushed House Fletcher near to extinction, he sensed opportunity and began to mobilize the Stormlands. War of the Trident While war raged between the West, the Vale, the Trident, and the Reach, the Stormlands remained on the periphery of the fighting. Their troops, though raised, marched no further than the borders of the Stormwood. The lands to the north remained outside of their control, for the moment. As the combatants exhausted themselves, King Durran saw an opening as the Dusklands and the Claw launched their ill-fated assault on Bitterbridge. In a rapid campaign over the course of a week, Durrandon men launched an offensive out of the Stormwood toward the Blackwater Rush. The resistance that those minor houses south of the river threw together would be shattered seven times in as many days. Exhausted but energized by their many victories, the Stormlanders made camp on the south bank of the Blackwater Rush for the first time in centuries. When at last the host of King Durran XXX crossed the river and invaded the Dusklands proper, King Darklyn saw little hope for victory. He sent a rider out under a banner of peace to parley, and bent the knee within the week. King Celtigar, however, saw fit to fight. The two would clash in the Dusklands, the King of the Claw and the Storm King meeting personally while their men fought around them. Celtigar would perish, and his heir Jacerys would be captured. As the Clawmen retreated to their ships, King Durran XXX thought on what to do with his hostage. In the end he would send Jacerys Celtigar home to Claw Isle, in exchange for a member of House Celtigar marrying his youngest brother, Rolland. Before the Celtigars could make their reply, however, word arrived from the west-- a host of men under the banner of the green hand marched east, under the command of Prince Gareth Gardener. The Stormlanders had yet to lose a battle, and borrowing outriders from King Darklyn and other Dusklander houses the Storm King moved west to choose ground to his liking. Prince Gareth would march to meet him, but in his haste fell neatly into the Stormlander trap. Reachmen charged the Durrandon host, their van seeking to plough through the Durrandon infantrymen left exposed in the center under the command of the King’s brother, Prince Erich. Woods to the south and hills to the north disguised the Stormlander heavy infantry, however. As Prince Gareth committed fully to his assault, the hidden Stormlanders struck from the flanks. Gareth’s infantry found itself pinched, and they would be crushed by the onrushing Durrandon men. King Durran himself lead the infantry assault, cleaving through the battle with his two-handed war hammer. As his forebear had in the War to Reclaim the Marches, Durran made Prince Gareth’s banner the star by which he guided his assault. Their lines broken, the Reachmen stood little chance as they were pressed. Those to the west retreated, those to the east fought. At last King Durran found his quarry-- the harried Gardener prince. Lord Bulwer interposed himself, but his defiance lasted only briefly. Durran met Gareth in single combat and slew the Prince, breaking the waning resolve of the Gardener host. The Reachmen routed, and the Storm King claimed a priceless prize from House Bulwer: their Valyrian steel helm. Every keep along the Bronzeroad sought to feast the victorious Stormlander host, and men sang loudly of the greatest Storm King since King Arlan III, who conquered all the Riverlands. The march home was joyous, the men electrified by the history they’d made. At Bronzegate the King and Ser Alyn went out on one of their hunts, and the King killed a magnificent stag sporting a large rack of antlers. Upon returning to Bronzegate with their kill the King ordered the antlers removed and sent to Storm’s End-- they would soon adorn his new helm. The Interwar Years As the host dispersed and the King returned to Storm’s End, he ruminated on his victory in the weeks after the grand feast. It had been the armored men who had so devastated the Gardeners. He’d seen plate save many lives, and commissioned new steel plate and mail from the castle blacksmiths. Dressing himself in this heavy armor, he learned anew from his master-at-arms, Ser Robert Swygert, how to fight wearing the bulky armor. By 293 he had mastered it, moving with grace and with power as he had before. For a further two years he worked to consolidate his gains. House Celtigar and House Darklyn made good on their word, marrying daughters to his brothers Prince Rolland and Prince Erich respectively. The houses south of the Blackwater dared not act against the Stormlands seemed content with the change in rulers, even. Once the situation in the north had stabilized to what extent it could, the Storm King turned his attention to the south. The Storm War While the Stormlands had existed peaceably for the past fifty years, Dorne had a history of war. House Yronwood was an ages-old foe, having invaded through the Boneway multiple times over the centuries. King Durran concluded that the time had come to strike back. The Storm War proved inconclusive. From 296 to 297 his host drove down the Boneway, fighting through ambush by some unknown brotherhood of malcontents and desert heat. His landing outside of Yronwood failed and he was driven back by a surprise alliance of Daynes and Yronwoods. The ill-conceived invasion failed to achieve anything at all, and neither side landed a deciding blow against the other. In the penultimate battle, the Storm King would again slay royalty-- the nephew of the King of the Greenbelt. The war never truly ended, however. As the next campaign was being planned, the King received word that a Great Council would be held at Harrenhal. His councilors stressed the importance of his attendance, and while King Durran was a stubborn man he recognized the necessity of riding up to the Riverlands. He left the Boneway in the capable hands of his Warden of the Southmarches and began the long ride north. Recent Events Category:King Category:House Durrandon Category:Storm Kings